


Found You

by ParacausalJengram



Series: The Bird and The Bolt [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Does this even count as flirting?, F/M, Sometimes getting shot can be a meet-cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29491083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParacausalJengram/pseuds/ParacausalJengram
Summary: Dawning is a weird time to be brought back as a Guardian, Asteryn's decided. When Eva Levante asks her to bring cookies to a rumored lone Lightbearer on the Tangled Shore, things only get weirder.---The story of how the Awoken Hunter Asteryn met the Crow.
Relationships: Female Guardian/Crow, Female Guardian/The Crow, Female Guardian/Uldren Sov
Series: The Bird and The Bolt [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162769
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Found You

**Author's Note:**

> Figured I should write up how these two met, if I'm going to keep on writing their story. (And oh, I am. Tease Amanda/Crow all you want, Bungie, I'm not afraid of being canon noncompliant! ... also I think that's cute, too, and will probably write for it eventually. :P)
> 
> Original characters: Asteryn, Awoken Hunter, and her Ghost, Sheyd

The Tangled Shore was as Sheyd warned her it would be: violent. She knew she ought to go straight to the Spider and ask him about the rumored Lightbearer she was supposed to be foisting cookies upon, but the Eliksni made her skin crawl. He always seemed to be appraising her like a rare relic--and Sheyd like his next dish. Asteryn hated being in his den for even a moment longer than necessary, so she decided to do her own patrol first. Spider would be a last resort, as he deserved. 

As she sped along on her gleaming white Sparrow--the only gleaming thing for miles, it seemed--she spotted something. It wasn’t a rusty tangle of metal, but she wasn’t sure it was organic, either. It jutted out of the ground, glowing a sickly green in places, looking almost like a tree stripped of leaves but innately  _ wrong _ . 

So, naturally, she angled her Sparrow towards it to investigate.

“What is this thing, Sheyd?” She asked as she hopped off her vehicle, letting it coast a few feet before dissolving away. It was at least three times her height, and she craned her neck up at it. 

Her Ghost darted around it like a hummingbird, a rainbow of lights flashing across his eye as he took readings. “A Hive construct. I’m not sure what for. Possibly for some kind of ritual? Or maybe even to broadcast a signal…” His shell expanded and contracted in a recreation of a sigh. “Whatever it is, it isn’t good. I’ve never seen these on the Shore before.”

As she rounded the strange pillar, she ran into something surprisingly solid. Instinctively, she drew her sidearm, expecting it to be a Dreg, but instead she found herself aiming at an Awoken man, his hood up. Shock was clear on what little of his face she could see, and a Ghost hovered at his shoulder. 

Multiple things happened at once, then.

One: She realized she had stumbled into the mysterious Lightbearer Eva had sent her to find, the one that rumors said worked for the Spider.

Two: She let her sidearm and helmet dissolve, assuming there was no threat.

Three: Pain erupted in her shoulder as a shotgun shell tore through it, knocking her off her feet and onto the ground with enough force to cause her vision to fade temporarily. 

“What are you  _ doing _ ?” Her Ghost shouted, at the same time another voice--another Ghost?--urgently asked, “Did she see your face?” 

With a groan, Asteryn pushed herself into a sitting position. “Yes, she did,” she grumbled, massaging her shoulder. Sheyd was already quick at work healing her, but it still smarted. “Is that face supposed to mean something? This is the first time I’ve been shot over eye contact.”

When she blinked her eyes open, both the man and the Ghost were staring at her, clearly surprised. “You… don’t recognize him?” The Ghost asked, tentatively floating closer to her. 

“No. I’ve never seen him before.” 

The two exchanged a quick glance. The Lightbearer’s arm, still outstretched with his finger on the trigger, dropped suddenly to his side, his shotgun vanishing. “I apologize for my poor reaction,” he said, avoiding her eyes. “Most of my previous interactions with other Lightbearers have been… unpleasant.” 

As much as she wanted to be annoyed--she  _ had  _ just been shot--he looked so remorseful she couldn’t bring herself to be. Instead, she shrugged, wincing at the lingering tenderness in her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, no lasting damage done. I’m sure you had your reasons. But as it turns out, I was actually looking for you.”

Alarm blazed in his bright eyes. “Why?” He asked, sharply. “Who sent you to look for me?”

“A woman at the Tower. Eva. She didn’t know what you looked like or what your name was!” Asteryn added quickly, sensing his fear. “She just heard a rumor of a Lightbearer on the Tangled Shore, and hated the thought of anyone being alone during the Dawning. So she sent me to bring cookies, as ridiculous as that sounds. I wasn’t sure why, at first, but I get it now--you’re worried about being recognized, and she knew I couldn’t recognize you.” Asteryn laughed weakly, knowing she was rambling at this point. “I’m very new to this existence. Suffice it to say, I don’t know enough to be ‘unpleasant’ to you. And for the first time, I’m rather glad to not know something it seems everyone else knows. Just please don’t shoot me again.” 

All at once, she realized how much she said and fell silent, embarrassed. But the Lightbearer didn’t seem to mind. In fact, if anything, he seemed confused, but relieved. His brows were so high they almost disappeared under the shadow of his hood, and Asteryn wondered if they’d climbed bit by bit with each sentence she’d rambled out. 

“I won’t. And… I’m glad you’re just as in the dark about why others hate me as I am,” he finally said, offering her the smallest hint of a smile. 

His Ghost zipped over to her, coming to bob around her head curiously. There was a scuffed, bulging panel on him that sent a flash of dread down her spine. Just what had happened to this duo? “You must be a very young light, then!” He announced. He sounded pleased by that fact, but it made Asteryn blush harder. 

“I just found her at the start of the Dawning season,” Sheyd explained, wrapping up with her shoulder. “I know you, though. I’m glad you finally found your Guardian. Do you have a name now?”

“Yes!” The little Ghost positively pulsed with happiness. “I’m Glint. I’m happy you found your Guardian, too -- we’ve both been searching a very long time!” 

Her own Ghost’s staticky laugh crackled out. “We have! And I’m now called Sheyd.” 

With a shake of her head, Asteryn finally found her voice again. “And now that we have thoroughly embarrassed me, I guess it’s my turn for an introduction.” Still sitting, she held out her hand towards the strange Lightbearer, who regarded it warily. “Asteryn. Very, very young light, as established, and very, very in the dark on most things. But, most importantly, very much not here to hurt you, I promise.” 

“I believe you’re supposed to grasp her hand,” Glint announced helpfully, swooping around to nudge his Guardian’s shoulder.

Finally, he reached out and took her hand. But instead of shaking it, or just clasping it in greeting, he helped pull her to her feet. His hand lingered on hers for a moment longer before letting go. “Thank you,” he said, softly. Everything about him now seemed so soft, so… vulnerable. “I’m called the Crow.”

“Your gratitude is a bit early, Crow” Asteryn laughed. She could only briefly meet his gaze--it was intense, like staring into the setting sun. “I haven’t even given you the cookies yet.” 

Sheyd flashed his light in an approximation of an eye-roll. “Star-eyes, you know that isn’t what he’s thanking you for.” 

His smile--also soft--was back. “Star-eyes?” He echoed, a trace of amusement in his voice. 

“Oh, no,” she groaned, covering her face and her offending, glowing, pale blue eyes. “I’m not getting shot  _ and  _ explaining that in the same fifteen minute stretch. That’s a story for another time,  _ if _ you earn it.” 

“I hope to earn it, then.” 

Silence stretched on for a beat too long as Crow gazed at Asteryn and Asteryn studiously looked anywhere but at Crow, until Glint bobbed back over to her with purpose. “Now. Did you mention cookies?” 

…

She left after peppering him with questions about the cryptolith, eyes impossibly bright with curiosity and something like purpose. For a Hunter, her questions reminded him a bit of Osiris, although they were delivered with much more enthusiasm and artless wonder. 

After he explained what he was doing, she said she’d come back to help with hunts. She didn’t hesitate to offer. He wasn’t sure what frightened him more: that she would return, or that she wouldn’t.

He ate the cookies in secret, while he was supposed to be investigating the cryptoliths on the baron’s orders--and he did still accomplish that task, his mind full of plans for the next hunt. His master would have no reason to be disappointed, no reason to suspect anything. Most importantly, his master would have no reason to harm Glint. 

The holiday treats the young Guardian had thrust into his hands were unpleasantly hard and dense, truly one of the worst things he’d ever tasted--which was saying something, considering what little he had to compare them to. But they were sweet in a way that had nothing to do with their uneven chocolate coating. He ate every one.

Glint hovered around him, almost humming with happiness, the danger of the encounter fading with each passing moment. He knew better than to mention anything to Spider, now, and, more importantly, his Lightbearer had experienced something vital: kindness, from someone who had no reason to give it to him. Glint knew there had to be others out there who would care about Crow for who he was  _ now _ , regardless of who he was. His light glowed warm with the hope that one had just stumbled upon them. 

...

“Hey, Sheyd? Why would other Guardians want to hurt him? And don’t dodge me on this, I know you know the answer here.” 

Her Ghost heaved a sigh that was much larger than his shape should’ve allowed. “I do know, but… it’s not a happy story. It boils down to who he was before Glint found him, and how who he was before died.”

Asteryn paled. “Wait. Other Guardians are literally so mad at who he was that they kill him on sight?” 

“I don’t think they know he’s a Lightbearer now, actually. They probably suspect that he's been revived via darker means.” 

“Things rarely stay dead, I'm learning," she replied, dryly.

“Ironically, this actually is about someone staying dead. Without going into details, who he was before killed a Guardian -- sent him to his final death, after his Ghost had also been killed, I mean. And that Guardian was well-loved, and was very important at the Tower.” 

It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together. “This has to do with why we Hunters don’t have a Vanguard right now, doesn’t it?” Sheyd bobbed in confirmation, and Asteryn sighed. “That sounds awful. But how can he be responsible, be  _ hated _ , for the actions of someone he no longer is?” 

“I don’t think it’s fair, either. When we find our Guardians, they’re entirely new lives-new Lights, brought back by the Traveler for a reason. But he has an infamous face, and Guardians’ memories are long. It doesn’t help that this took place only a handful of years ago.”

Her mind wandered unavoidably back to Petra, and how she had clearly been recognized. How would that have gone if Petra hadn’t liked, or had even hated, whoever she was before Sheyd revived her? Being recognized as someone she wasn’t had been upsetting enough without it coming to murderous blows. No wonder Crow had shot her in a panic--he must always be braced for others to attack first and ask questions never. 

The whole situation was bigger than her--as usual. But she swiftly made a decision. Maybe other Guardians would refuse to give him a chance, but she wasn’t yet like other Guardians. She may never be like them, honestly. So she resolved to return, to check in on the lonely Lightbearer. No one deserved to be exiled for the sins of someone else. 

And besides, she didn’t like the idea of him investigating those cryptoliths on his own. Guardians--even ones who hadn’t taken the name--were stronger together, after all. 

* * *

**End Notes:** About the Petra thing. Asteryn is a _very_ new Guardian. She was a corsair in her pre-Guardian life, and was sent on a mission away from The Dreaming City shortly before the Riven crisis trapped it in a time loop. As in, Petra would recognize her, and could conceivably believe she-as-she-was somehow made it back. But that's a different story entirely. ;D


End file.
